Skip to content
MINIATURES

RAY LAROSE|MINIATURES

⌕
Or browse: Schemes Recipes Gallery Paints Conversion Chart

New to this? Start here

Gold 4 steps The basecoat, wash, highlight sequence most metal is built on. Ultramarine Armour 4 steps The same idea with an edge highlight, which is what makes armour read as armour. Rust 3 steps Stippling and drybrushing, and hard to get wrong. Ork Flesh 9 steps The whole ladder: a basecoat, two layers, a highlight, then glazes to blend it together.

Every miniature I have painted, with the paints and the steps to paint it again.

Paint Schemes

How I painted each model: the exact paints, the order they went on, and the finish they gave.

Before you start, and what the technique words mean
Thin your paint
Almost everything here goes on thinner than it comes out of the pot. Neat paint dries thick and fills in the detail you paid for. Add water a drop at a time on a palette until it runs somewhere between milk and heavy cream, depending on the brand, then build the colour up in two or three coats rather than one.
Start on a primed model
Unless a step says otherwise, every recipe here begins on a model that has already been primed - paint will not sit properly on bare plastic. Black unless the scheme says otherwise, which is what most of these were painted over.
The same words mean two things
Wash, shade and layer are both things you do and names Citadel puts on pots. The badge on a step is the action. The Type column in the paint list is which range the pot came from. A step badged "layer" is often painted with a Base paint, and that is not a mistake.
basecoat
The first solid colour over primer. Two thin coats beat one thick one.
highlight
A lighter colour on the parts that would catch the light.
layer
A slightly lighter colour over part of the coat below, leaving its edges showing.
wash
Thin, watery paint that runs into the recesses and shades the whole area at once.
edge
A highlight along a sharp edge only, painted with the side of the brush.
shade
Darker paint placed deliberately in the shadows rather than left to flow.
glaze
Heavily thinned paint over dry paint, to tint it and soften the join between two colours.
stipple
Dabbed on with the tip of the brush for a broken, rough, mottled surface.
drybrush
Almost-dry paint dragged across raised texture so it catches only the high points.
blend
Two colours worked into each other while both are wet, so there is no visible line.
special
Anything that is not one of the above. The step note says what it is.

Ironhead Squat Exo-Kyn

🔗
SquatsFebruary 2025 · 4 models
FinishClean inversion
PrimarySquat core palette (reversed)
ContrastWarm vs cool metals
TechniqueRecipe swap, minimal changes
CORE
Use:
RecipeSquat White Armour
RecipeSquat Weapons
(Direct inversion of white scheme)
TOOLS (Exceptions)
SteelLeadbelcher → Nuln Oil
Warm metalRetributor Armour → Agrax Earthshade
RecipeDark Skin
  1. 1
    basecoatDark Flesh Tone (72.044)Vallejo
    Base all felsh·Artis Opus Series S 3
  2. 2
    layerCharred Brown (72.045)Vallejo
    Deepen the shadows·Artis Opus Series S 1
  3. 3
    highlightTan (72.066)Vallejo
    Lighten the highlights·Artis Opus Series S 1
  4. 4
    highlightBugman’s GlowCitadel
    Brightest highlights into the pink tones·Artis Opus Series S 1
RecipeSquat Helmets
  1. 1
    basecoatSurface WhiteVallejo
    Prime·Harder & Steenbeck Airbrush ULTRA 2024 Medium
  2. 2
    basecoatImperial FistCitadel
    Evenly coat·Artis Opus Series S 3
  3. 3
    edgeIce Yellow (70.858)Vallejo
    Edge helmets·Artis Opus Series S 1
  4. 4
    layerMephiston RedCitadel
    Red stripes·Artis Opus Series S 1
  5. 5
    stippleMoon Yellow (72.005)Vallejo
    Weather stripe·Beaky Make-up Sponge Medium
  6. 6
    layerElectric Blue (72.023)Vallejo + Bold Titanium WhitePro Acryl
    Visors - slight reflection·Artis Opus Series S 1
RecipeSquat Weapons
  1. 1
    basecoatBlackVallejo
    Primer black·Harder & Steenbeck Airbrush ULTRA 2024 Medium
  2. 2
    basecoatField Blue (70.964)Vallejo
    Base weapon·Artis Opus Series S 3
  3. 3
    edgeTurquoise (72.024)Vallejo
    Edge highlight weapons·Artis Opus Series S 1
  4. 4
    basecoatLeadbelcherCitadel
    Barrels / clips·Vallejo Detail
  5. 5
    washNuln OilCitadel
    Barrels / clips·Vallejo Detail
  6. 6
    basecoatBrassy Brass (72.058)Vallejo
    Brassy bits·Vallejo Detail
  7. 7
    washAgrax EarthshadeCitadel
    Brassy bits·Vallejo Detail
RecipeSquat White Armour
  1. 1
    basecoatSurface WhiteVallejo
    Make life easy, primer them white·Harder & Steenbeck Airbrush ULTRA 2024 Medium
  2. 2
    basecoatWolf Grey (72.047)Vallejo
    Cover all armour bits·Artis Opus Series S 3
  3. 3
    shadeApothecary WhiteCitadel
    Recess shade·Artis Opus Series S 00
  4. 4
    edgeBold Titanium WhitePro Acryl
    Edges to pop·Artis Opus Series S 1
  5. 5
    basecoatYellow Olive (72.064)Vallejo
    Arms, pants·Artis Opus Series S 3
  6. 6
    highlightDesert Yellow (72.063)Vallejo
    Highlight above·Artis Opus Series S 00
  7. 7
    basecoatCoal BlackPro Acryl
    Boots·Artis Opus Series S 1
  8. 8
    highlightMechanicus Standard GreyCitadel
    Highlight boots·Artis Opus Series S 00
Other Paints
Retributor ArmourCitadel⇆

Recipes

Methods I reuse across models - skin, metal, armour, cloth and the rest. Each step is one named paint, one technique and a note. Unless a step says otherwise, every recipe here starts on a primed model - the scheme that uses it usually says which colour.

Before you start, and what the technique words mean
Thin your paint
Almost everything here goes on thinner than it comes out of the pot. Neat paint dries thick and fills in the detail you paid for. Add water a drop at a time on a palette until it runs somewhere between milk and heavy cream, depending on the brand, then build the colour up in two or three coats rather than one.
Start on a primed model
Unless a step says otherwise, every recipe here begins on a model that has already been primed - paint will not sit properly on bare plastic. Black unless the scheme says otherwise, which is what most of these were painted over.
The same words mean two things
Wash, shade and layer are both things you do and names Citadel puts on pots. The badge on a step is the action. The Type column in the paint list is which range the pot came from. A step badged "layer" is often painted with a Base paint, and that is not a mistake.
basecoat
The first solid colour over primer. Two thin coats beat one thick one.
highlight
A lighter colour on the parts that would catch the light.
layer
A slightly lighter colour over part of the coat below, leaving its edges showing.
wash
Thin, watery paint that runs into the recesses and shades the whole area at once.
edge
A highlight along a sharp edge only, painted with the side of the brush.
shade
Darker paint placed deliberately in the shadows rather than left to flow.
glaze
Heavily thinned paint over dry paint, to tint it and soften the join between two colours.
stipple
Dabbed on with the tip of the brush for a broken, rough, mottled surface.
drybrush
Almost-dry paint dragged across raised texture so it catches only the high points.
blend
Two colours worked into each other while both are wet, so there is no visible line.
special
Anything that is not one of the above. The step note says what it is.

Paint Inventory

The paints I actually own - every pot on my shelf, not a catalogue of what exists. This is what the schemes and recipes are painted with.

PaintBrandTypeHueUsed in

Paint Conversion Chart

Citadel colours matched to their closest Vallejo, Pro Acryl and Two Thin Coats equivalents, by eye, over time. Nothing here is a measured colour match - the dots say how close each one really is.

Still filling this in: 8 of the 108 colours used in the recipes here have no row yet. Mostly Vallejo. A blank means not mapped, not that no equivalent exists.

How close the match is: near identical usable avoid

CitadelVallejoPro AcrylTwo Thin Coats